2009-03-21

KENKEN Craze!



 Tetsuya Miyamoto
From: http://www.kenken.com

The KenKen Craze!
KenKen is the puzzle phenomenon sweeping the world! Fun, fast and highly addictive, even educational, KenKen is a great way to enjoy yourself and exercise your brain at the same time!
Famous for his ability to creatively teach kids math in Japan and also for his entertaining puzzles, Tetsuya Miyamoto invents KenKen in 2004 and the worldwide crade begins!  
2004:Japanese Math Teacher Tetsuya Miyamoto introduces KenKen.
2006:GAKKEN, a Japanese educational publisher, begins marketing KenKen as a line of children’s books. More than 1.5 million books are sold in Japan.
2008:NEXTOY, LLC starts marketing KenKen worldwide. The puzzle appears daily in The Times (UK) as of March 2008.
May -- Harper Collins publishes two KenKen books in the United Kingdom.
October -- KenKen is launched in the United States. St. Martin’s Press publishes four Will Shortz Presents KenKenbooks and three Will Shortz Presents I Can KenKen!! books for children. In the Introduction educator Marilyn Burns, the founder of Math Solutions, gives tips on solving the brain-twisting puzzle.

October -- Reader’s Digest becomes the country’s first magazine to run KenKen and its January 2009 cover proclaims: “The New Puzzle Sensation is Here!”

November -- The New York Times online starts running six interactive puzzles daily. Other newspapers with KenKen include Le Figaro (France) and El Pais (Spain). For additional newspapers, magazines and books with KenKen, see the“Partners” page.

2009:www.kenken.com adds six free daily interactive puzzles.

January -- iToys introduces a handheld electronic KenKen game.

February -- The New York Times newspaper starts running KenKen, with two progressively difficult puzzles from Monday to Saturday.

February -- Dell Magazines releases original KenKen magazines: “Our new twist on sudoku brings you the ultimate in puzzle fun!”

March -- Watch for three new Will Shortz Presents Crazy for KenKen books.

April -- Capcom catches the puzzle craze and offers KenKen games for mobile phones, including the Apple iPhone

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